Filling up the car with gas is so routine that you barely give
it a thought -- until the day you drive away with the gas-pump
nozzle stuck in the tank.
Think you could never do something so stupid?
So did the other folks who found themselves driving down the
road with a gas hose trailing behind them.
"I'd say this would happen at least once a month," Kirk McCauley
recalls from his 31 years of owning a gas station in Beltsville,
Md. "I've run people down four miles away. They had no idea the
nozzle was in there."
With 41 million fill-ups a day nationwide, according to figures
from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (
EIA
), it's not all that surprising that something goes awry
occasionally. No one keeps a tally on hose breakaways, but the
mistake is common enough that every gas station owner has a story
or two about it, and the industry builds gas pumps with the mishap
in mind.
Why cellphones and gas pumps don't mix
You know those signs telling you not to use a cellphone while
fueling?
Warnings that using a cellphone near a gas pump could spark a
fire or explosion are based on an urban myth. The
Petroleum Equipment Institute
says it hasn't been able to document a single incident when a cell
phone sparked a fire at a gas station.
"In fact, many researchers have tried to ignite fuel vapors with
a cell phone and failed," the institute says on its website.
Instead, the signs are there because station owners want you to
pay attention, says Jeff Lenard, spokesperson for the National
Association of Convenience Stores in Alexandria, Va. "Invariably
when consumers drive off with the gas nozzle it's because they were
on the phone."
McCauley, now director of member relations and government
affairs for the Service Station Dealers of America and Allied
Trades in Bowie, Md., agrees.
"The phone rings, and they get in the car and go," he says.
They've planned for this
Fortunately, driving off with the gas nozzle doesn't pose a big
danger. The gas pump has a break-away device that detaches the hose
automatically if it is pulled with enough force.
"It's like a lizard's tail," Lenard says.
No gas escapes from the pump when this happens. McCauley says
gas hoses have had breakaway devices for as long as he's been in
the industry.
"I've never seen anyone pull over a pump," he says. And even if
someone did knock over a gas pump, today's equipment features
automatic shutoff valves.
Still, driving away with the gas hose causes damage. Unlike a
lizard that can grow another tail, after all, the gas pump doesn't
regenerate a hose. The good news is that a gas pump hose isn't
especially costly to replace or repair, unlike many other things
you could hit. (See "
You hit it, you bought it
.")
The cost of doing something dumb
Car insurance -- specifically your
property damage liability insurance
-- would cover the cost of repairs.
Rick Ward, spokesperson for MetLife Auto & Home, says claims
of this type are infrequent these days.
"We probably see less than a dozen a year."
They used to be more common before self-service became the norm
at gas stations, he says. Customers would pay for the gas and drive
off, not realizing the attendant hadn't taken the nozzle out of the
tank.
If the nozzle and hose are intact and only the breakaway device
is damaged, then the repair might run less than $100 , McCauley
says. But if the nozzle is damaged, the repair could cost hundreds
more. Different types of nozzles are used in different parts of the
country, and they vary in price. They range from under $200 to more
than $400, McCauley estimates.
Ward says the average car insurance claim for this type of
damage is $250. But the cost could go higher if a station charges
for "loss of use" for the pump while it's undergoing repair. That's
a more difficult claim to prove today, though, because many gas
stations have multiple service islands, Ward says.
Whether such a claim affects your car insurance rates depends on
your insurer and your driving record. Damaging a gas pump does
count as an "at-fault" incident, Ward says. But your rates may not
go up if it's a small claim and you haven't caused any other
mishaps.
If the incident damages your own car, you would have to pay for
the damage outright or file a claim against your own comprehensive
or collision coverage -- assuming the cost of repair exceeds your
deductible.
The gas station owner has seen it before
So what should you do if you drive away with the gas nozzle?
McCauley says some customers never come back. "I think some
people are scared of getting in trouble," he says.
Among those who returned to his station, detached nozzle and
hose in hand, some contacted their insurance companies to settle
the bills, and others just paid for the repairs out of pocket,
anxious to put the matter behind them.
"They were embarrassed more than anything," McCauley says.